CPI seeks probe into VK Sasikala's alleged Rs 2 crore bribe for VIP treatment from jail officials

Coimbatore: Communist Party of India (CPI) on Thursday sought a high-level inquiry into allegations that AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala had paid Rs 2 crore to some jail officials for being given preferential treatment at a prison in Bengaluru where she has been lodged. Stringent action should be taken against the erring officials, CPI national secretary D Raja told reporters. [caption id=“attachment_3809129” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of VK Sasikala. PTI[/caption] It has proved that an individual can bribe officials and get comfort during jail stay, he said, adding, the matter should be probed by a high-level committee. He said corruption has not spared the jail also. On presidential and vice-presidential elections, Raja said the election was between two different ideologies. On one side is “communal politics of the BJP with the support of RSS and on the other, the 18 opposition parties who uphold constitutional values and secular fabric of the country,” he said. He appealed to MPs from Tamil Nadu to vote for Meira Kumar and Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the opposition candidates. Raja accused the BJP government of neglecting the interests of farmers, who are facing the worst ever economic crisis in the recent past. At the least the government should come forward to implement the MS Swaminathan Committee report and properly fix minimum support price for farmers’ produce and also reduce input cost for agriculture, he said. CPI opposed the reported move to merge Central Institute of Classical Tamil with the Central University of Tamil Nadu, Raja said. He alleged that the government was trying to impose Hindi and Sanskrit and the policy will be against the country’s unity and sovereignty. Raja also alleged that the BJP-led government was trying to privatise government undertakings and said the NITI Aayog has now become a transferring authority of public sector undertakings to private parties.